Requiem For A Crescendo
by Midori-chan
Summary: Yuide has just purchased a copy of the ever-popular, "The World", signing onto a Data Drained world of chaos. Meeting up with the characters from .hackINFECTION and others, he can't help but wonder...if "The World" is more than what it seems to be...
1. Monologue

"To me, The World is not a game. Not anymore, at least."  
  
"There is a reason why it is called, 'The World,' you know... it becomes the indefinition of reality as you play it – it coerces your heart into believing in friendships that aren't there, places value in digital pixels, gives you the surreal feeling of not belonging, but at the same time, reassures you that you are one in a million. It is your world before long, and you feel some attachment to a virtual reality that doesn't exist. Yes? Don't you feel it, the need to protect this world from a virus that would rape and ravage your precious illusion? Is that your heart pounding right now, or is that the game's synthesizers? Do you know anymore?"  
  
I spoke with complete conviction – with the intention of everyone in my party hearing me, and understanding my words perfectly. In the clarion daylight outside, the sun was shining, digitized pixels making a ring of rainbow shine across my eyes as my lips moved with the words I had wanted to say most...  
  
"You don't, do you?" 


	2. Beginnings

Finally, the last day of school!! Yuide's heart flushed with joy at the last bell, grabbing his glasses from the desk where he'd been making origami cranes for the past hour, watching his teacher dozing at her desk, dreaming of the long-awaited scorching days of summer. He was the first one out of the door, streaking down the hall past hall monitors who were too thrilled with the abdicating of their thrones to notice him. Skidding past the math hall, he yanked the door open to the music room, the area devoid of all human life sans for one person, who was tapping out a rhythm on a synthesizer.  
  
"Kano-kun!! It's suuuummerrrr!!" he trilled, raising his hand that contained his glasses in a victory gesture. Kano stopped his pecking of the keys, blinking at Yuide with the utmost grace.  
  
"Why are you so excited?"  
  
"Hah!! Simply because..." the boy cackled, running to the keyboard that Kano was sitting at to ruffle the brunette's hair, "I have a reserved copy of The World waiting for me at the video game store, right now!! I'm so excited, people in my class have been talking about it for sooo long, and now – now that I've saved up enough money – I can play allll summer long!!! Bwahahahaha!!" he laughed, looking cheerful.  
  
Kano twisted his lips slightly. "It's a little late for that, y'know..." he replied, closing his eyes in an unaffectionate way. "The World's been out for several months now."  
  
Yuide appeared hurt – for a split second. "Just 'cause I'm late doesn't mean I won't level up to be real strong, and defeat all the bosses in all the fields!" he rejoined as he retracted his hand from Kano's hair and turned off the keyboard. "I just wanted to come wish you a merry summertime before I went off to the game store!"  
  
"Hai," the brunette murmured, giving Yuide a small smile and standing up from the synthesizer's bench. "I appreciate that."  
  
"Ne – I know you were really into The World, and then stopped playing for awhile – you think you could get back on the server, just for me, pretty please?" Yuide asked, as he ran a hand through his blonde, stringy hair.  
  
Kano was silent for a few moments, and then smiled again, nodding. "I suppose I can make an exception for you," he offered, and tilted his head. "I'll be on as soon as I get home, okay?"  
  
"Great!! I'll go get my game then!" Yuide replied, breaking off into a run again and zooming out of the door, down the deserted hall, and into the open air of freedom. The wind tousled the blonde's hair, his sea green eyes blinking up into the purine blue sky, their shine rivaling even that of the sun's glittering light as the boy ran down the sidewalk.  
  
The brunette, however, still sat at the piano, his finger lingering on one A natural, producing a tremulous, melancholy note. 


	3. Aftermath of The World

Sweaty palms gripped around the cardboard frame of a brightly coloured orange box, adorned with the logo of the CC Corporation, ALTIMIT, and, in the centre, a florid display of computer code and interlocking hexagons, spelling out 'THE WORLD, as Yuide paused at the gate in front of his home – a nondescript house, to say the least, Kano would always tease him at how his house was easier to miss than a pitch thrown by the New York Dodgers. With a moaning creak, the gate opened to reveal a lawn full of children's toys and knickknacks of all sizes, ranging from My Little Ponies lining the sidewalk to a blow-up clown that waved in the breeze amiably, as if welcoming the boy home.  
  
That was pretty much the –only- thing that welcomed him home, Yuide thought, with a roll of his eyes. To keep a house in such constant disarray took work, and with his parents gone about two-thirds of the year and brothers and sisters to take care of, the house was able to maintain a solid equilibrium of messiness year-round.  
  
Stepping through the grass and avoiding some errant G.I. Joes, Yuide reached the door and set his thin fingers upon the knob, hesitating for a moment before exhaling air he wasn't even aware he was holding in, and entering his home.  
  
He was greeted by a shrill scream; something perhaps even jet pilots would wince at, as a young girl with strawberry blonde hair came streaking past him trailing what seemed to be a older boy with a brown mop of hair upon his head.  
  
"MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GIVEITBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Yuide cringed and walked briskly past his brother and sister, intent on ignoring any possible distractions from his goal: to gain control over the computer.  
  
Ever a fan of the popular RPG gaming, he found himself strategizing his next attack as he jumped an overturned sofa, obviously used for a crude fort, a pair of boy's undershorts hanging limply from a kitchen spoon that was stuffed amongst the cushions.  
  
_Okay – enemy fortress: taken. Let's hope there aren't any random encounter battles – I'm low on Tiny Knickknacks to distract the children with...  
_  
Scooting against the wall, past the cluttered kitchen, he stretched out an alabaster hand. _Almost th—  
_  
"YUIDE-KUN!!! Help me paint my nails!!" a gangly girl of eleven yelled, stopping the hand in its pathway to the computer room door. She held a bottle of sparkly blue nail polish out for the blonde to see, shaking it menacingly in his face. For the entire world to see, Yuide produced a severely defeated and disgusted look.  
  
"But...Kieren...I'd like to go play a game..." he protested, and was stopped by the young girl screaming, her short, bushy pigtails flopping about upon her wide forehead. "NOBODY LIKES ME!!! I HATE YOU!!!" she shrieked as she stamped her feet in a fit of rage.  
  
Shocked as to where the notion he hated her came from, Yuide backed against the wall, his emerald eyes widening slightly. "...I...suppose...I..."  
  
"Oh, please, quit being so whiny. You stole that from me anyway."  
  
Both the blonde and the eleven-year old glanced to the side to see a boy about Yuide's age, hold up one hand – upon three of his fingers was the same blue nail polish Yuide had been attacked with. In awe at being figured out so quickly, Kieren stood speechless beside Yuide, as the young boy snatched the bottle of nail polish from her with the flick of a hand – gracefully, as immature royalty would.  
  
"Thank you," he spoke, not so much appreciatively as a more, 'don't you dare do that again', and proceeded to smooth back his raven-black hair, shot with auburn highlights, thinning out perfectly smooth, pink-glossed lips. After a moment of consideration upon his appearance, he raised his sapphire blue eyes, sparkling with mirth, at the completely shocked Yuide.  
  
"Yo."  
  
Sticking out his tongue, he gave a little wave. "You don't have to thank me. I got home early from boarding school – either that, or they kicked me out for freezing all the teachers' bras in the cafeteria's refrigerators. Take your pick – it's still my parents' money, anyway." After elucidating this piece of information, he slid away, eyes slipping back to his half- painted fingers.  
  
"Grr... I wouldn't want to thank you anyway, Ame!" Yuide quipped, sliding his hand into the crack of the door and slamming the door behind him, locking it so as to prevent any further intrusions. "Finally..." He padded across the room, strangely immaculate compared to the rest of the house – a sign that Yuide had paid special attention to this room and none other.  
  
"I can't believe he still gets away with living in our house, not doing anything, and doesn't even have to pay!! Even if he is my cousin... he needs a serious attitude adjustment..." the blonde sighed, sliding on his glasses again and carefully opening the cardboard box with nimble fingers, shaking out the contents: two installation discs, an owner's manual, and a small sheet of paper, with some Japanese characters upon it... disregarding the latter object, and picking up the manual and the discs, Yuide scanned through the installation process before opening his D drive and plopping Disc Number One into the tiny tray that whirred in and out of the computer.  
  
WELCOME TO THE WORLD INSTALLATION...  
  
Upon the screen popped a hexagonal menu, orange like its matching box, and with it, the words, "The World" embroidered into the top-left of the screen, as if they'd been stitched there on the actual monitor. Marveling at the simple display of technology, Yuide, from the floor, stretched his hand up to move the mouse over to the 'Install' button, his neck craned and his eyes glued to the screen for the computer's next reaction.  
  
The installation process went rather quick, compared to the other programs Yuide had installed – both discs passed from his fingers, into the computer, and came out, warm from the CPU – and circulated back to the jewel case from whence they originated. Sitting upon his haunches, Yuide's green eyes peered over the keyboard curiously, checking to see if his new game was installed correctly. _I thought these MMORPG's were supposed to take at least an hour or more to install...  
_  
But, no matter: it didn't, so he thought nothing of it, and bounced up to his chair, brushing back stray tendrils of blonde hair to place the headset (which he had previously bought during the school year for another game) upon his head, making sure the microphone and the visor were in place before picking up a controller, and double-clicking the new 'The World' icon upon his desktop with his mouse.  
  
"Welcome to The World!! Choose your PC name."  
  
Upon reading these words, Yuide sat back in his chair and pressed his lips together. "Player character...? Hm..." Lifting up the visor, he glanced over at some sheet music Kano had left at his house – Moonlight Sonata. Blinking his jade eyes at the music, the shimmering orbs following the scattering of disseminated notes across the page, he came upon a word, stenciled neatly under a few sixteenth notes – "Crescendo."  
  
Crescendo?  
  
He was not a music buff, like Kano was – but he liked the ring of the word upon his tongue. Besides, he always wanted an American-sounding name, to go with his American looks – people would always comment on how pretty he looked, and when he told them his name, they would always exclaim, "How boring for such a lovely child!" Simply thinking about those words sent an angry chill down his spine, and he snapped the visor down again. Crescendo, it was.  
  
His fingers chose the letters amongst the American alphabet, avoiding the normal Japanese katakana carefully, and making sure each letter was perfect – if there were one thing him and his best friend shared, it was their affinity for perfection. Kano, in his musical talent, and Yuide, in his academic career: both took to meticulously planning out how they could make everything they did perfect...  
  
"Processing... PC name, CRESCENDO. Password?"  
  
"Um..." His brain flitted back to the music sheet, as he typed, 'moonlightsonata' in the blank, admiring the way every time he chose a letter, a perfectly-shaped asterisk, like snowflakes on a cold winter's eve, would appear in its place. The simple action was almost poetic, concealing the user's identity through encryption and snowflakes – the most beautiful things used to shroud the most important things from view. Here, behind his veil of snow, he would be safe...  
  
Choosing 'OK' from the menu, his visor went blank for a moment – and then whirled to life with a serenade of bright colours, blurring his vision between what was green and what was blue in the whirling matrix of code. The images from the visor transferred to Yuide's glasses, and made him retract his face a couple inches from its resting position, as the sudden feeling of weightlessness enveloped him, golden rings forming around his body, and an eerie single note of A until...  
  
"WELCOME TO ROOT TOWN, SERVER: LAMDA."  
  
Squinting his suddenly cerulean eyes, Crescendo viewed his surroundings: buildings lining a walkway that was covered with exposed code – it seemed as if it had been eaten away by some kind of creature, the colourful awnings that were hanging from emerald buildings were dissolved into the same carmine and gold code. The black velvet night sky which stretched across the town, was not flecked with stars, but missing pieces of their digital formation, standing out gaudily amongst their surroundings like an orange in a hoarde of apples.  
  
"Wh..."  
  
With an idle toss of his fiery red locks, hanging down in thin strands from the bun atop his head, his eyes flicked over to the gate where he had warped to – half of his vision was blurred green. Raising a mythril-gloved hand, he felt his face – smooth, creamy flesh... and a metallic piece jutting out from behind one of his ears to end in a targeting eyepiece over his right eye.  
  
_Whoa... does the computer pick your appearance...? I wonder what I look like... I'd better find a mirror...  
_  
Just as Crescendo thought these words, and was about to take a step upon the digitally-enhanced walkway, a larger man warped in front of him, preventing him from continuing.  
  
"Hey, what's the big--" the redhead started, but was stopped by a domineering voice from the larger man with a moustache.  
  
"Who are you? You're not supposed to be able to log in... we closed down The World two days ago to all players, except..."  
  
"Lios!!"  
  
The man turned around to be greeted by a young boy with turquoise hair poking out from under his brilliantly red-orange cap, designed with gold marks – the lines crisscrossed down his body, billowing out into large slacks, and ending in nondescript, brown shoes. Upon the cheeks of the young boy stood red-orange triangular marks, which contrasted his pale skin and teal eyes strikingly.  
  
"Lios... who is he...?" the boy asked curiously, crossing his twin daggers in a sort of nonplussed manner, as he smiled grimly at Crescendo.  
  
Through the emerald eyepiece, Crescendo gazed at the boy, equally confused – until he noticed a bright blue, shining bracelet upon the boy's right wrist...  
  
"Hey...that's an unusual bracelet..."  
  
Both boy and man started when Crescendo spoke these words, seemingly distraught over his noticing the object.  
  
"Y-you can see..." the boy started, but the older man, apparently Lios, cut in.  
  
"No other PC's have that kind of eyepiece. Why do you have it??"  
  
Somewhat frightened at Lios's incisive words, Crescendo took a step back. "I...I really don't know what you're talking about... I just started..."  
  
"Just started? How can a newbie like you hack the system's encryption and gain access to The World, plus have such a strange item? I've never seen one like it in my life..." Lios continued, stepping closer to him. "I've got you now, you malignant hacker."  
  
"Now, wait a second!" the turquoise-haired boy piped up. "If he's a hacker, Helba will have heard of him... so we just have to bring him to her, and she can say if he is... or not..."  
  
Crescendo let out a long sigh as Lios pulled away from him, a disgruntled look upon his wide face as he grunted. "...I suppose it is 'innocent until proven your blessings, hacker. Kite has a predilection for saving hackers."  
  
At this comment, Kite shot a small glare at Lios, and when the man turned around, he glanced away, his lips thinned, and his daggers still crossed, as Lios became surrounded by golden rings, as Yuide had before he became Crescendo, and disappeared from view.  
  
Thankful to his saviour, Crescendo bowed deeply, the strands of red dipping down as his head lowered.  
  
"Heh, you don't need to thank me... I believe you. :-)" Kite rejoined, a small smile weaving onto his features, before he frowned again. "To tell you the truth... I'm kind of surprised you made it in here, you really don't know anything about where you are?"  
  
"Erm...really, no. I was just going to find a mirror to look at myself..."  
  
Kite laughed – though it seemed devoid of any happiness – more of an exhausted, dark laugh. "Didn't you get to pick out your PC skin before you went here?"  
  
"...."  
  
During the silence that followed, Kite's blue-green eyes became progressively wider. "...you mean to tell me, that you didn't pick out your class, or your looks?"  
  
Crescendo nodded, trying to discern what cogs were turning in the little boy's head, and why everyone thought he was so abnormal, when he just wanted to play a game!! However... he thought, as he peered around the town, devoid of all life save for Kite and he, Crescendo began to think better of that statement. _Either I'm strange...or The World is strange...  
_  
"You're..." Kite began, nudging an edge of the triangular face markings with the back of his hand, as a peculiar look overcame his boyish face. For a while, it seemed as if he were frozen in that position, as if his expression were a glitch in the computer's system that it could not process. Crescendo blinked, and when his eyes opened again, he gazed over a hand extended to him, and the hilt of the dagger that Kite was holding pointed towards him in a gesture of friendship. The peculiar look upon the turquoise-haired boy's face was gone, and replaced with a much calmer, easier expression of a slight smile.  
  
"If we could team up together..." the words from Kite were cut off by Crescendo reaching over and taking the outstretched hand that held the dagger, a beaming smile upon his face. "It's the least I can do after you helped me away from that weird guy," the redhead explained, staring at Kite's teal eyes and grinning through his own deep blue orbs.  
  
Kite's smile seemed to lengthen as Crescendo accepted his means for friendship, squeezing his hand on the handle of the dagger before Crescendo took his hand away, adjusting his emerald eyepiece.  
  
"My name's Crescendo."  
  
"And I'm Kite."  
  
A sheepish laugh came from Crescendo's throat, perfectly mimicked by the game's sensors. "Is there any way I can contact you...on mail, and stuff?"  
  
The peculiar look appeared upon Kite's face again, and Crescendo attempted to mirror the look. "...you give me your member address," the boy explained, with a slight hesitation, "there's a menu on your Options to send me your address."  
  
A quirky silence followed, as Crescendo raised an eyebrow, seeming to be looking for the options and the address button on his screen. "Oh...hm...aha! Here it is. :-)" A sapphire gem of a text box popped up in front of Crescendo, seeming to cover up Kite for a moment, as it announced, "Member Address Sent!!"  
  
Kite nodded, taking little less than a second in sending Crescendo his address, and waiting for his little box, which seemed to not be visible to the redhead. After said invisible box seemed to pop up, as the expression upon Kite's face shifted slightly, the blue-green-eyed boy seemed satisfied, glancing around at the razed town with a wary eye.  
  
"Sumimasen, Crescendo, but I have to get going. It's late..."  
  
As if nothing was wrong with this town or the sudden mention of his going, Crescendo nodded. "I hope you'll help me level up, sometime... I don't know what level I am, but I assume it's low – I just started, like I said..."  
  
Again, Kite seemed a little more interested in hearing about him than leaving, and he turned slightly in Crescendo's direction, twisting his mouth. "Look in your Status option..."  
  
As Crescendo did so, the calm expression upon his face changed to one of slight discomfort. "...um... I don't have a level."  
  
"What?" Shock from Kite's end. "What do you mean, it must say, '1', or something..."  
  
"...no, it's one long dash with a string of funny looking symbols at the end...I guess maybe it's because I'm just starting? I mean, maybe I haven't even reached it to level one..." Crescendo explained, severely disliking the emotion that was now written upon the boy's face. He felt trapped, cornered between the decrepit green walls of this town and the boy's facial expression. "What? Did I do something wrong?"  
  
"It's nothing..." Kite responded, backing away from him. "Sorry...I'll contact you."  
  
And with those cryptic words said, a ring of gold surrounded Kite and he disappeared from sight. 


	4. Confusion

Yuide pulled off the headset with mild disbelief, his blonde hair falling over his emerald eyes as he gazed at the empty screen that was flecked with two words: "THE WORLD."  
  
"That was... weird..." he whispered, his voice seeming to grow hoarse as it caught in his throat. _Either something is seriously wrong here... or someone's messing with me... that couldn't have been one of those Events that Kano was talking about, could it?_ The thought seemed to take root in his mind. _They must be really good actors, though... maybe it involves a really rare item!!! I suppose I'll ask Kite... but he seems a little too distraught for it to be acting...  
  
_He set down the headset with a sigh, adjusting his glasses carefully.  
  
_What the hell is going on here?_


	5. Death Sentence

"Perhaps I should explain how I first came to this conclusion... for my reappearance here was your own doing, I hope you know. You asked me to come, I obliged while he was rather skittish about the whole request."  
  
"When I first saw you standing there... I couldn't control my hatred for your worth. He asked me not to, and I obeyed – I hope you realize how truly lucky you are for him. Otherwise, I would have killed you when I first met you."  
  
Iced gold eyes flickered for a moment at my words – however, I paid no heed to his shock, for he could not request anything more from me. We had made a deal; for each number of inquiries he made of me, I could respond with an action of my own. And I was acting upon his requests.  
  
"Tell me, my sweet leader... how do you feel about him? Does he stand in the shadows for you, too? I would assume that he would become fatigued of your childish antics and try to crush you with the power that he has... but since he hasn't as of late, I will have to resume the job for him..."  
  
The digital world around us was completely silent, with only the threatening smell of fear, so thick it was almost tangible in the air of the game. A gust of wind whisked past me, blowing fine strands of hair into my eyes as I licked my lips in consternation, a small smile upon my smooth face.  
  
"What's the matter? Do you really want to die that bad?"  
  
**[Author's Note: So far, this is all I have for 'Requiem for a Crescendo'. Please, review these chapters with comments and love! :3 If I have made a grammatical or spelling error, please tell me, because I would like to know. XD Thank you very much, I hope you have enjoyed it so far!!!]**


End file.
